Darge and Dempsey will be ‘raring to go’ for Scotland, says Warriors coach
week might be a bit early, but definitely next week he will be back in the picture for selection. Those two guys will definitely be raring to go. They will all be back for Scotland and possibly for us before that.”
Dempsey has only played one game for Glasgow since the World Cup but sustained a head injury in the win over Ulster in November which required surgery on his skull. His back-row colleague Matt Fagerson suffered a facial injury against Northampton Saints last month and winger and club captain Steyn has not played since damaging his ankle in the defeat by Connacht in the second week of the season. All three were reintegrated into team training this week although a decision has yet to be made on whether they will be part of the match-day squad for Saturday’s game against Exeter at Sandy Park.
“Potentially they could be involved, and we need to make a call later in the week,” said Carolan. “With Jack Dempsey and Kyle Steyn particularly, they’ve had extended leave. Kyle has been out since the Connacht game in round 2 and Dempsey has been out for five or six weeks. Having a down week was great for the squad, but those guys would probably have liked a little bit of contact involvement prior to maybe playing or starting this week. They’re training fully and raring to go – it’s about whether we can afford to play without them this week.
“Jack Dempsey had a bang on the head and surgery on his skull. Kyle Steyn had syndesmosis after the Connacht game – another nasty injury. Matt Fagerson had an eye fracture. You can’t speed some of these things up. Bones need time to heal. But they have all worked really hard and been extremely diligent in their rehab.
“The fact they are back ahead of time – and we have had medical staff working right through Christmas with these guys – they have gone over and above the basic level of rehab required. They are keen to get back. They know the Six Nations is just around the corner as well, which is a massive incentive. They probably feel if they can get any exposure to game-time prior
to the Six Nations, it is going to help them with selection and performance in that period.”
Glasgow have had a torrid time of it in terms of injuries. Ollie Smith, their full-back, has been ruled out for the remainder of the season after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament in the win over Bayonne, the third Warriors player to
suffer such an affliction this season after Fraser Brown and JP du Preez. Smith will now undergo surgery.
Sione Vailanu, the back-row forward, is undergoing an assessment on a knee injury picked up against Edinburgh at Scotstoun while prop Nathan Mcbeth has been ruled out of the upcoming European fixturesafterhurtinghisshoulder
in the second 1872 Cup match at Murrayfield. Gregor Brown is out for the next couple of months with a knee issue, and Enrique Pieretto (knee) and Sebastian Cancelliere (neck) are continuing to rehab their respective injuries. Scrum-half Jamie Dobie returned to training on Tuesday.